Intellectual Property Rights

We visited the Poona School for the blind on 1 Jan 2018.

We met Tausif & Iqbal who just amazed us with the skills and ability to learn the Rubiks cube in about 3 hours.

Both were partially blind which meant that they could see the bright colours of the cube if they held it about one inch away from their eyes.

Not only did they learn the algorithms very quickly but they thoroughly enjoyed the experience!

Amit bhaiya taught 3 fully blind children during the pandemic – online.

We found that :

A supportive environment at home was very important ( Eg : they needed some assistance to show us the solved side by holding it near the camera)
Access to a stable internet connection was a challenge
These kids were very bright and wanted to learn but due to some admin issues between the blind school and the NGO facilitating this process- we had to stop
The 3*3 Rubiks cube which was used for the sessions was purchased online but it was not Braille compliant. Moreover the embossing for 5 and 6 was very similar and confusing as the dots were too close

We did not stop there !

We visited the Jagruti Blind school for girls and spoke to two blind girls (both named Jyoti) who were working in the admin section.

Findings :

All the students had been sent home .
The students belonged to economically weaker section of our society
Some girls were dealing with depression and anxiety because in some cases the parents had to lock them and go to earn their daily livelihood
Following a certain training approach can help the VI learn faster and in an interactive way
Cubes sold online were being marketed as “blind cubes” . They were very expensive and were not braille compliant

The blind cube available on Amazon (India) had embossed patterns. The distance between embossed dots is not Braille compliant making it confusing to identify patterns
The braille cubes available overseas cater to VI who learn braille in English/European languages.
The cost of a blind cube on Amazon (India) is approximately USD 13. Braille cubes have to be imported and cost a whopping USD 53 plus shipping.
Producing more Braille cubes mean more plastic and CO 2 emissions
Lack of a suitable teaching methodology for the VI

A long iterative process resulted in the following solution: Identification of six unique symbols that are language independent.

A versatile braille design that can be stickered and re-stickered on existing cubes and low- cost cubes
Budget friendly solution. (If an existing cube is used the cost is a mere USD $2 and only $4 if a low-cost cube is used)
A braille instruction manual in different Indian languages to facilitate independent learning
A peer-to-peer based teaching-learning framework for teaching Rubik’s cubing to the VI.
Knowledge dissemination to Blind Schools and NGOs at nominal cost.

Intellectual Property (IP) is still an unknown idea for many us , more so children.
Our parents had to spend a lot of time to research what needs to be done .
Getting proper guidance is very important: we were fortunate to find Mrs Madhumita Majumdar Ma’am.
Resources to fund IP are needed: not everyone can afford it . However this may result in good ideas being “lost” or plagiarized
For inventions to be effective they need to work at the ground level . That part requires a different skill set . So we need guidance on that.
Translating inventions to products . For e.g : A sustainable personal hygiene product for women . How do I get guidance on the materials even if I have a design in mind?
IP is not discussed at the school level . It is more of a specialized area. This needs to be demystified in a simple way so that more coverage of inventors and ideas is obtained. Enable Innovation please !
The information on the government website is not simple to execute . We even tried GUJCOST but did not get any response.

The reason that we have been able to make progress in our journey was due to the support received from :

Teachers & Principal ( Ms Deepa Kapoor Ma’am of Suchitra Academy International School)
The amazing people whom we met in the blind schools
Waste pickers who despite spending most of their life working in waste generated by us : still smile !
Our parents who were there with us …